Hiba Mudassir
eSomethin Staff
The dictionary definition of ‘climate crisis’ alludes to global warming its impacts on the world. Pakistan is a country in South Asia with a population of almost 242 million, and more than 32 million Pakistanis are now displaced because of a ‘monster monsoon’ that has caused four times the 30-year average expected rainfall.
The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned the world “is sleepwalking” into an environmental destruction and called for “massive help.” The former Minister for the Interior, Ashan Iqbal, estimated damaged could cost more than $10 billion so far.
Pakistan’s population displacement due to this flooding is equal to the total populations of New York City and Texas, combined. Approximately 1,300 people are dead, including 400 children, some as young as a few days old.
Approximately 6,000 homes have been destroyed and people have been left on the streets all over the country. The southern province of Sindh Balochistan, and northern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have faced the most casualties so far. Multiple school buildings and college hostels and dorms have been made into relief shelters for the displaced.
“We informed people through mosque loudspeakers, through social media, through WhatsApp. We evacuated and rescued a lot of people,” said Qurat Al-Ain Wazir, a volunteer trying to secure aid directly for the displaced victims
Pakistan is responsible for less than one percent of the world’s planet-warming gasses, specifically 0.49% according to European Union Data. However because of these floods, more than a third of the country is under water.
According to Pakistan’s foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto, “What we are facing today has been no above average monsoon. It is an entirely new level of climate-led catastrophe.” The flood event has been happening for more than three months.
What Pakistan needs now most of all is donations and flood aid. Schools, colleges and businesses are all doing their part in trying to collect donations.
Maneha Ahmed Sachedina, a high school student who is volunteering and leading her school’s flood drive and a resident of Karachi, Pakistan, said, “We’ve been seeing stalls for donations everywhere. They’re all over Karachi. People are working really hard for everyone suffering and there’s so many victims.” She later added, “In this time of crisis, it seems everyone is truly trying to help those affected severely by the floods and rains.”
The last time Pakistan faced a flood crisis like this was in 2010. The total number of casualties during that event was 1,985. Officials now are predicting an even higher death toll for this event if sufficient aid does not reach the victims.
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